hi folks. i have a 2006 lariat with the sub. ive noticed over the past week or so the drivers rear speaker in the door has some odd distortions. its not at high volume. its at mid volume and it just makes everything sound like im listening to the radio and it is slightly loosing signal.

not sure what my best option is. i cant even tell if i have factory tweeters or not. and if i do, is it worth keeping them, or would i be just as well off getting some cheap 2 way's? im not an audiophile, but i like music, and the distortion is driving me crazy. i dont need an improvement over stock, but i dont want a downgrade either.

so yeah. how to tell if i have factory components, and if i do, would i be better off finding a factory replacement, or an aftermarket replacement? or do you think my problem is likely elsewhere?

 

Well, knowing if you have factory components or not is easy, just pop off the screen / grate thing over the speaker and look at them. Maybe you can swap the left and right speakers and see if the problem moves with the speaker.

 

from what i understand, the rear speakers in a extended cab are a bear to get to. but you are probably right. i should swap L+R to confirm that it is the speaker. as for the components, if i check the fronts, will they tell me what the backs are? aka, components in the front=components in the rear?

 

Yeah, you need to pull the entire door panel. It's really not that bad of a job once you do it a time or two.

 

Okay... sorry that I gave you bad info on that, I've never actually had to take my rear speakers out. But EBC is right, removing the door panel isn't too difficult. Just remember that if it's fighting you, STOP and re-examine everything because you probably didn't disconnect something. I know on the front, the speaker screws themselves also hold the door panel on. That hung me up for quite a while. I don't know if the front and rear speakers are the same. If I had to guess, they're different.

 

This is just my opinion mind you, but I think the stock Ford (not audiophile) speakers/system in these trucks is the worst sounding garbage I've heard in a vehicle, except maybe the old economy cars with a single dash speaker. Do yourself a favor and pick up some mid priced 4x6's , since you're going to tear the panels off anyway.

 

A little trick I learned for the front panels was after removing the speakers, remove the two lower speaker plastic nut risers from the door itself. Makes the panel slide up and off so much easier...On a SCAB, the fronts and rears are all the same speaker.